He doesn’t look fat just BIG! Probably as cut as he has been in the past. I would be more afraid of making drastic changes than just simply tapering down and letting it take care of itself.
Yes, he is very muscular.
Drastic change is never good especially leading up to world championships. Hopefully, with a proper taper, and a going a little more conservative on the food side will yield great results.
lr1400 - it is very difficult to lay out a definite approach without having more information on what Powell is currently doing (training loads, exercise selection, diet, etc.) and what he has done for the past 6 months. I don’t know what his tyical “fighting” weight is, but I’m a bit shocked he’s been allowed to get up to 216lbs. I would have thought he would normally be about 190-195lbs.
Having said that, you could do either of the methods you’ve outlined above. And you are right, there should not be significant weight loss as a result. It’s not like combative sports where you can drop 20lbs of water weight, weigh-in and then compete the next day after putting much of the weight back on. Drastic weight loss can be problematic in terms of energy and adjustments in training and sprint technique. I think it goes back to, “Why was he allowed to get up to 216lbs?” A quick google search says that he normally is 190lbs - which is what I thought he was when he ran 9.72. How can this current weight be better?
Certainly makes for an interesting lead-in to the World Championships.
America is fighting for 5th place…yikes
“why was he allowed to get up to 216?” Great Question Number Two.
The more and more I learn of what is really going on with MVP, the more questions I have. Sometimes we like to think that these athletes are a product of an incredible coach and program, when in fact it really just might be incredible genetics and competitve training environment. I don’t want to hijack this thread and start a debate on coaching vs genetics, but from what has been relayed back to me, the program does not seem to be as sound and thorough as one would think. In any event, something is working and as Charlie would say "if it aint broke dont fix it. "
I have always noticed in the past 5 or so years that right after a major championship asafa gets really cut. His traps start to stand out and his back is wider than usual. It always happens each year right after the major championship. Which is also the same time charlie said would be his best races races 18 or so.
The straighter leg is the change, when he did this recently in the last couple of meters it was suggested he was tensing up.
Would be nice to “embed” someone from the forum in their training group to relay back to us what is really going on. As “speedster12” noted, I’m sure it isn’t rocket science, and some of it may just be plain laughable.
When we were working with Tim and Marion, we heard some interesting stories about what they were doing with Trevor Graham. I spent a good deal of those conversations responding with “… you’re kidding? You guys actually did that?”
Do you really think you will get the correct answers. I doubt anyone who is still successful will give away everything that will make another coach more successful than them.
I wouldn’t expect any coach to freely give up their annual plan and detailed workouts. However, if we did have the opportunity to watch them run, I suspect we would see a long but gradual warm-up, including some drills, followed by some starts, and then some high quality runs with long recoveries between. I would also assume the weight workouts would be fairly simple in structure, but we would not be blown away by the loads they are using. Their technique would also likely be unspectacular, but satisfactory. If they were doing anything else, I would be surprised.
When Powell lays off the extra supps the weight will fall off…
No. 2, isn’t that what pretty much everyone’s workouts would look like?
I don’t think the annual plan and detailed workouts would be much different than the great Charlie Francis, remembering he was 10 years ahead of everyone else with Ben.
Where I believe the difference lies is in what they are doing with running mechanics.
Everyone has looked at a slowmo of Bolt and and Powell and came up with their own interperation on what they are doing. I would suggest that watching a magician perform will not give the answer any more than the slowmo will. What you see is not what is being done.
I can remember when Olivia Tauro made big improvements everyone over here were taking videos trying to work out what she was doing different. They are none the wiser and the kid is now gone.
If you looked at individual workouts - I would hope that everyone’s general structure would be similar. However, the week to week progressions, from training phase to training phase, would likely be all over the map from what I have seen and from what I have heard from people who have observed workouts from day to day in various camps.
Then, there is the overall training plan as compared with what was actually implemented on the day. Charlie would create weekly plans, but the majority of workouts would be changed on the day based on what he saw, feedback from the massage therapist, etc. This is what separated Charlie’s work from others - his ability to improvise with the circumstances he was presented with.
This would be a risky assumption. How many of Charlie’s workout plans have you actually reviewed to come to this conclusion? I am not talking about the short-to-long and long-to-short examples he presented (which were never actually used as workout plans - they were theoretical examples that we prepared for seminar presentation and discussion).
From what I have reviewed in person with him, there is a significant difference in how he plans his workouts as compared with almost everyone else. His attention to the details with regard to adjusting various individual elements from week-to-week, phase-to-phase and year-to-year are unlike any other coach I’ve seen. His description of the process Charlie used in “Project World Record” were impressive in terms of the depth of research, integration of training elements and coordination with other service providers. I have numerous training programs he has provided (many of which I sat with him and documented for him, with input on specific elements) and they are all very different (as they were provided for different athletes, with different circumstances - some male, some female, some older, some younger, at different times of year, different stages of development, etc).
Based on the numerous consultations I’ve provided with athletes and coaches over the past few years who have “studied” Charlie’s presentation materials, I have found that many (if not most of them) have incorrectly applied Charlie’s principles, or have simply cut and pasted his training program examples with no regard for their individual circumstances and needs of their athletes. I fear that this is happening more frequently than not. This is particularly the case with his Short-to-Long seminar example. People have told me they wrote up their training program, wanted my input on it, and then proceeded to send me the S-L example Charlie provided. This is not what Charlie had intended.
have incorrectly applied Charlie’s principles, or have simply cut and pasted his training program examples with no regard for their individual circumstances and needs of their athletes.
Absolutely spot on No.2! I’ve seen this too. Copy/paste - too easy, one would think 
Not so, and is wrong.
Have to agree. I can only interpret what Charlie actually meant, and apply it to my athletes of basic standard, work full time in manual labour jobs or office jobs, and chronic injuries. Is my interpretations correct, I have no idea. I am reluctant to let my athletes see written programmes, because wrote/said athletes will do what they see and not necessarily what they should at the time.
As for Powell, I hope he can put together a good major championships effort and runs well. Can he lose 25lb (11kg) in 2 months without hindering performance, I hope so.
Well put DMA. What you said is what Charlie would have hoped for coaches following his method.
I have been following Charlie’s work since 1986 - that first seminar I attended at the age of 17 years (still have a few notes from that seminar). I have had the opportunity to coach sprinters for the past 20 years, and had the opportunity to work with Charlie for many years. Am I an expert when it comes to the Charlie Francis Training System? I would say I’m not. And, this is after 25 years of following his material. Have his guidelines, assertions and methods made a significant impression on how I coach on a daily basis? Yes - they are pretty hard wired into my system now. In particular, his words about how to be a good coach: “Do what you need to do to make sure the athletes are always improving. Don’t let people tell you otherwise what your eyes, ears and instincts are telling you.”
Well stated No 2, its a good reminder to everyone to think hard about their own athletes and how they should be applying CF’s principles to help them and not just copy his sample programmes.
Keep up the good work.